Pierre de la Rue

Pierre de la Rue (* between 1460 and 1470 very likely in Tournai ; † November 20, 1518 in Kortrijk (French Courtrai )) was a Franco-Flemish composer , singer and cleric of the Renaissance .

Live and act

The name of this composer has been passed down in numerous variants (Pierchon, Petrus de Vico, Petrus de robore, Petrus Platensis, à Platea and others, also as Peter vander Straten, identity less likely). His parents were Gertrud de la Haye, who survived her son, and Jehan de la Rue, who probably opened a master workshop as an enlumineur (illuminator) in Tournai in 1463 . The composer's identity with a Peter vander Straten born around 1452 was discussed for a long time; he spoke Flemish as his mother tongue and was active between 1469 and 1492 as a singer in Brussels , Ghent , at the Marienkirche in Nieuwpoort and coming from Cologne in the Marienbruderschaft in 's-Hertogenbosch and always appears in the documents as "Peteren vander Straten". He was referred to as a tenorist and no compositions have come down to us under this name. De la Rue, on the other hand, very likely spoke French, his pitch is not known, and the progressive features of his mass compositions with their tendency to five to six voices and the use of parody techniques speak strongly for a year of birth 10 to 15 years later than 1452. This makes Peter vander Straten is hardly considered by music historians to be identical to Pierre de la Rue.

Pierre probably received his training in the maîtrise of the Notre-Dame cathedral in his hometown. Nothing is known about his youth and further education. It is documented that he started at the bottom of the hierarchy of the Burgundian court orchestra with receipts from November 17, 1492. He stayed in this institution until the end of his career. In this respect he was one of the very few important composers of his era who had never been to Italy. Shortly after joining, he accompanied his employer Maximilian I (reigned 1493 / 1508–1519) together with seven bandmates to 's-Hertogenbosch and there became a formal member of the Marian Brotherhood; here he is referred to as the “Cantor Romanorum Regis”, ie the king's singer. From then on, de la Rue led the comparatively safe and uneventful life of a court servant in this court chapel and gradually rose in the hierarchy of the chapel, later became a deacon , but never a priest , and then received his first, particularly profitable benefice at a collegiate church of St. Ode (location unknown), which he kept until his death. Further benefices followed up to 1509 in the cities of Namur , Kortrijk, Dendermonde and Ghent. Strangely enough, he never became Kapellmeister , perhaps precisely because he was by far the most important mass composer there.

After Maximilian was crowned German king in 1493, his son Archduke Philip the Fair of Castile (reign 1478–1506) took over the so-called Grande Chapelle with Pierre de la Rue. The chapel served as an instrument of representation, with the result that the composer took part in many state acts and numerous trips by the court. From November 4, 1501 to May 1502, there was a trip from Brussels via Paris , Blois and Orléans to Spain, where the court society stayed for many months at the court of Ferdinand II of Aragón (reign 1479-1516). His wife Isabella I of Castile was the mother-in-law of Philip the Fair. In addition to Pierre de la Rue, the chapel included the composers Alexander Agricola , Marbriano de Orto , Antonius Divitis and Nicolas Champion . In France and Spain the court orchestra participated in many splendid mass celebrations with polyphonic music, sometimes alternating with the French court orchestra. On his return journey in the spring of 1502, de la Rue may have met Josquin Desprez in Lyon , and Philip the Fair met his sister Margaret of Austria , Duchess of Savoy , with her court orchestra in Bourg-en-Bresse on April 11, 1503; their most important musician was Antoine de Févin . It was here that Pierre de la Rue first came into contact with his future employer. On July 23, 1503, Philip returned to Burgundian territory with the court orchestra. This was followed in September 1503 by the memorable meeting of the court orchestras of Philip and Maximilian in Augsburg and Innsbruck, where de la Rue may have met Jacob Obrecht on his way to Italy. Finally the court orchestra moved back to Mechelen via Heidelberg and Cologne . The fact that Pierre de la Rue was held in high esteem by his employer results from the fact that Philip awarded him a canonical at the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk.

From the end of 1505 Philip the Fair traveled with his court orchestra for the second time to Spain to assert his wife Johanna der Wahnsinnigen's (1479–1555) inheritance claims to Castile after the death of her mother Isabella (November 26, 1504). The court had chosen to travel by water, with the singers and instrumentalists having their own ship. On January 13, 1506, a storm drove part of the fleet, including the musicians' ship, to Falmouth on the south-west coast of England, with two singers missing. The fleet finally arrived in A Coruña on April 27, 1506 . However, this trip ended in disaster. After Philip and his entourage had moved to Valladolid and Burgos for the summer , the Duke fell ill with a fever and died in Burgos on September 25, 1506. Philip's court orchestra disbanded, some of the members traveled back to Burgundy, others, including Pierre de la Rue, entered the court chapel of the widow Joan of Castile, who was even more generous in the remuneration of the chapel. The most important Spanish composer of the time, Juan de Anchieta (1462–1523), who, like de la Rue, wrote a mass “Nuncqua fiu pena maior”, was one of the servants of this court . After the departure of the former conductor Marbriano de Orto, Pierre moved up to his position and received twice the salary of the other band members. After Johanna was ousted by her father Ferdinand in August 1508, the Castilian court orchestra also dissolved, the Burgundian members were paid travel expenses for their journey home, and Pierre de la Rue left the country on August 19, 1508.

After a swift return to his homeland de la Rue came in April 1509 again to the attention of Margaret of Austria, the interim governor in Burgundy and guardian of the future Emperor Charles V had become. She resided in Mechelen and Brussels and asked her father Maximilian for a benefice for Pierre de la Rue at the Sainte-Faraïde church in Ghent, with the intention of winning him back to the court orchestra, apparently with success, because de la Rue for the May 1509 reappears in the payroll of the singers of the Grande Chapelle . In the following years the composer stayed at the court of the governor in Mechelen, whose favorite composer he became, and in whose honor he wrote numerous occasional compositions. Margarete had gathered humanists and artists around her and, because of the many blows she had suffered, had developed a special courtly culture of mourning. When the previously underage Karl was declared of legal age in 1515, the court orchestra passed to him; there is evidence of a trip with the chapel to the Netherlands. The last (presumably subsequent) salary payment to Pierre de la Rue took place on January 21, 1516; but he may have resigned from court service in the summer of 1515. He retired to Kortrijk in June 1516, bought a house there and became a local canon. His will of June 16, 1516 shows him to be a wealthy man. He died on November 20, 1518 in Kortrijk and was buried here in the cemetery of Onze Liewe Vrouwkerk . His grave and the tomb with the Latin inscription have not been preserved, but this inscription has come down in several copies and celebrates him as a master of sacred music: "In tumulo Petrus de Vico conditor isto, nobile cui nomen musica sacra dedit".

Importance and appreciation

The tradition of the works of Pierre de la Rue is unique in its time. It is an unmistakable sign of his fame in Josquin's epoch and of course a consequence of his lifelong service at a single, culturally and politically distinguished court. Among the Franco-Flemish composers of his time he must be regarded as a representative of a fundamentally contrapuntal style. This is attested above all by the 31 masses that represent the center of his work. Most of his works, especially the masses, are primarily handed down in splendid manuscripts, which were written by the book workshop at the Habsburg-Burgundian court in Mechelen and kept there, as well as diplomatic presents to befriended courts and high-ranking personalities churches, wealthy middle-class music lovers and book collectors bought directly from the workshop. In this unique group of sources, Pierre de la Rue is by far the most strongly represented composer with almost 200 entries, clearly ahead of Josquin and especially ahead of the other composers working there, such as Alexander Agricola, Antonius Divitis, Marbriano de Orto or Gaspar van Weerbeke . In the German Protestant chapel manuscripts (publishers in Leipzig and Pirna ), his masses are found late, after the overall tradition has waned in the 1530s, in the prints by Johannes Petreius and Hieronymus Formschneider (both 1539), with de la Rue's motets and especially counterfactures of his fairs. In Italy the transmission of his works was generally weak and showed an emphasis on secular works.

Pierre de la Rue's musical style is particularly well outlined by a number of unusual and consistent features. Apart from his personal development, the difference in style between the four-part and five-part works is particularly noticeable at the masses. The four-part masses are basically more traditional, simpler and more closely related to the “normal style” around 1500, while the five-part masses are highly complicated and appear “modern”. The latter is based on the principle of linearity, creating a highly diverse structure from the main idea of variety. The clarity, systematics and predictability of Josquin Desprez's sentence are completely lacking here. When de la Rue also a pronounced tendency for there in the big structure canon as well as a penchant for deep sound documents before, in the small structure a tight linearity, a "developing variation", a wealth of dissonances, a propulsive rhythms and a dislike of cadences with their structuring power. His general predilection for low registers is perhaps also the result of his studies of the works of Johannes Ockeghem .

In the technique of the canon, de la Rue is more virtuoso than almost any other contemporary composer. The pinnacle of this way of composing consists in the construction of entire works as a canon (e.g. the masses “Ave sanctissima Maria”, “O salutaris hostia” and in “Salve regina” [I]), whereby mensur canons also play a special role, see above in Kyrie , Christe and the second Kyrie as well as in Agnus Dei II of the four-part mass “L'homme armé”, which already astonished the music theorists of his time, as well as in the “Sicut locutus est” of the Magnificat primi toni , which is the sixth scale canon ex 3 was composed. De la Rue's inclination for dark sound is evident not only in the unusual soundscape of his chanson "Pourquoy non", but also in the lower register of entire masses such as "Assumpta est" and "Conceptio tua" or in the motet "Salve mater salvatoris" as well as in the unique sound design of his Requiem with its effective alternation between deep full-voiced and high two-part sections in a smaller space. Canon technique and dark sound are particularly impressively combined in the movements in which the two lowest voices form the foundation, for example in the entire mass “Incessament”, in the Agnus Dei I the “Missa de Sancto Job” and in the five-part chansons “Cent mille regretz ”,“ Fors seulement ”and“ Incessament ”. This also includes the tendency to combine the two lowest voices either in parallel movement or with long note values as a "sound band" for the foundation of the sentence.

In terms of ingenuity and diversity, on the same level as canon technique, albeit technically subordinate, Pierre de la Rue's construction of entire masses using an ostinato , a technique that was particularly valued by the composers of his generation with Jacob Obrecht, but also immediately challenges the comparison with Josquin. This includes the mass “Sancta Dei genitrix”, but also, for example, the four-part mass “Cum jucunditate”, which is composed entirely on a theme of five tones, which is constantly repeated in one of the voices and varied rhythmically with the change of the hexachord . Its melody is characterized by wide, often triad accentuated and therefore peculiarly “modern” arcs, also by large intervals ( sixths , also downwards, octaves and decimals ), on the other hand also by a varying development of motifs from small declamatory and melismatic cells. His personal style shows unusual melodic formulas such as differently shaped alternating notes , tone repetitions in melisms and cadence clauses. His treatment of the text can also be described as extremely unorthodox in comparison with his contemporary composers.

The dominant impression of his music is the flow of a complex contrapuntal flow with almost no caesuras, in which the text is just as carefully articulated and structured, often in the smallest cells, in which work is then carried out “absolutely”, so to speak. Here the stylistic closeness to Jean Mouton becomes particularly clear. At the center of de la Rue's compositional thinking leads to the observation that he knows all the classical compositional elements of his time, but "alienates" them with the greatest compositional refinement. In this respect, the model of the five-part movement is his most important musical historical achievement.

The composer apparently only had a special relationship with two of his colleagues: Johannes Ockeghem and Josquin Desprez, while references to other composers tend to be inconspicuous. This concerns the reference to Ockeghem in the use of individual voices from his chansons in works on the same texts and de la Rue's Requiem as a whole. His completely different relationship to Josquin arises from the points of contact in the ostinato techniques of his masses “Cum jucunditate” and “Sancta Dei genitrix” and particularly noticeable when the Agnus Dei II of Josquin's mass “L'ami Baudichon” was outdone with the “ Plenary "of his" Missa de Santa Cruce "; also from the reference of his motet “Considera Israel” to the Josquin ascribed “Planxit autem David”. Finally, a strange homage to Josquin has to be mentioned, namely the quotation of the soprano ending from his famous four-part “Ave Maria… virgo serena” as tenor in de la Rue's “Osanna” of his “Missa de septem doloribus”. In addition, it is unclear whether one can infer a special reference to this composer from his use of Heinrich Isaac's six-part motet “Archi archangeli” as a parody model or from the adoption of all cantus firmi from the mass “Floruit egregius infans Livinius” by Matthaeus Pipelare . In contrast, the end of the “Pleni” from his mass “O gloriosa Margaretha” to the “Benedictus” from Obrecht's mass “Fortuna desperata” shows a clear closeness to Jacob Obrecht.

De la Rue's motets are much smaller than his trade fairs and have come down to us much weaker. Of the 23 motets, 11 relate to the veneration of Mary. Hardly any composer of this time has come down with a similarly modest work of motets. On the other hand, his Magnificats occupy a special position because they are evidently the first cycle of eight works on all eight Magnificat church modes that come from a single composer. However, it is questionable whether these Magnificats represent a real cycle, as was the case later with Costanzo Festa or Cristóbal de Morales . His five “Salve Regina” form a special closed group; no other composer of his time wrote so many sentences about this antiphon . Outstanding motets are also the monumental six-part “Pater de celis Deus”, the early and ancient “Vexilla regis” / “Passio Domini” and above all the two funeral motets “Delicta juventutis” and “Considera Israel”, which ascribed the comparison with Josquin “Planxit autem David” needn't shy away from it.

Works

Complete edition : Pierre de la Rue, Opera omnia , edited by N. St. John Davison / JE Kreider / TH Keahey, [Neuhausen-Stuttgart] 1989 and following.

Masses and mass sentences with secured authorship (abbreviation: cf = Cantus firmus)
- Missa “Nuncqua fue pena maior” with four voices; Parody mass about the villancico of the same name by Juan de Urrede (active 1451–1482)

Masses with a different authorship that has now been established

Missa Coronata for four to five voices; Author: Josquin Desprez, "Missa de Beata Virgine"
Missa “Iste confessor Domini” with four voices; Author: Antoine de Févin, Missa "O quam glorifica luce"

Anonymous masses, attributed by research to Pierre de la Rue

Missa de septem doloribus dulcissimae Mariae for four voices, anonymous, stylistically improbable, but included in the complete edition
Missa “L'homme armé” [II] with four ex three voices (Agnus Dei with five ex four voices), anonymous, attribution with reservations
Missa sine nomine [II] with four voices, anonymous and fragmentary, attribution with reservation

Magnificats (only the even-numbered stanzas were set to music by the composer)

Magnificat primi toni to three to six votes
Magnificat secundi toni with two to four voices; In the German sources, instead of the two-part "Esurientes", an inauthentic four-part movement
[Magnificat tertii toni, lost]
Magnificat quarti toni with three to four voices; in the German sources the “Sicut locutus est” with an inauthentic additional voice
Magnificat quinti toni with two to four voices; completely in an Alamire manuscript only
Magnificat sexti toni with three to five voices; In the German sources, instead of the three-part “Sicut locutus est”, an inauthentic four-part movement
Magnificat septimi toni with three to four voices
Magnificat octavi toni with two to four voices

Motets with secured authorship

“Amicus fidelis” to two voices; Protestant counterfactor of "Benedictus" from the Missa "Tandernaken"
“Ave apertor celorum” to four voices; Lutheran counterfactor of "Ave regina celorum"
“Ave regina celorum” for four voices; one of the four great Marian antiphons, Cantus firmus not identified
“Ave sanctissima Maria” to six ex three voices; previously attributed to Philippe Verdelot and Claudin de Sermisy
“Cum coelorum mutatur” to three votes; (arbitrary?) counterfactor of "Si dormiero"
“Considera Israel” with four voices, 2nd part “Sagitta Jonathae” with three voices, 3rd part “Filie Israel” with three voices, 4th part “Doleo super te” with four voices; Text 2. Book of Samuel 1: 19–27; without cantus firmus; the fourth part has survived separately; probably on the death of Philip the Fair (1506) for Margaret of Austria
“Da pacem Domine” to four ex two voices; Text and melody: Antiphona pro pace
“Delicta juventutis”, 2nd part “suscipiat eum” with four voices, funeral prayer for an unnamed person, without cantus firmus
“Deus meus eripe me” to two voices; Protestant counterfactor of the "Pleni sunt celi" from the Missa "Ave sanctissima Maria"
“Doleo super te” to four voices; is the 4th part of "Considera Israel", handed down separately
“Frange esurienti panem” to two votes; Protestant counterfactor of Agnus Dei II from the Missa "Tandernaken"
“Gaude virgo mater Christi”, 2nd part “Gaude sponsa cara Dei” with four voices; Rhyming poem about the seven joys of Mary, perhaps from St. Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas Becket); Cantus firmus: Paraphrase of the 7th psalm tone
“Lauda anima mea Dominum”, 2nd part “Qui custodit veritatem” with four voices; Psalm 145; Cantus firmus: Tonus peregrinus; late tradition; Authenticity somewhat uncertain
“Laudate Dominum omnes gentes” with four voices (canon 3 ex 1 and free bass); Psalm 116; without cantus firmus
“Libertatem quam maiores” to two voices; Protestant counterfactor of the "Benedictus" of the Missa "Nuncqua fue pena maior"
“Miserere mei Deus” to two votes; Protestant counterfactor of the "Pleni sunt celi" of the Missa "Sancta Dei genitrix"
“Ne temere quid loquaris” for two voices; Protestant counterfactor of the Agnus Dei II of the Missa de feria
“Non salvatur rex” to two voices; Protestant counterfactor of the "Pleni sunt celi" of the Missa "Incessament"
“Nos debemus gratias agere” to three votes; Protestant counterfactor of the chanson "Pour ung jamais"
“O Domine Jesu Christi” to four votes; Prayer text without cantus firmus
“Omnes peccaverunt” to three voices; Protestant counterfactor of the "Benedictus" of the Missa "Inviolata"
“O salutaris hostia” for four voices, rhyming prayer in honorem Sanctissimi Sacramenti; in three sources in place of "Osanna" I of the Missa de Sancta Anna, in two sources as a separate motet
“Pater de caelis Deus”, 2nd part “Benedicamus Patrem” with six voices (canon 3 ex 1 and three free voices), responsions from the litany and the Sunday Compline, through the attached Trinitarian formula related to Trinity; without cantus firmus
“Querite Dominum” to two voices; Protestant counterfactur of the "Pleni sunt celi" of the Missa "L'homme armé" [I]
“Quis dabit pacem”, 2nd part without text with four voices; Bookmark (unidentified) only in the index of the single source; no relation to Heinrich Isaac's motet
“Regina celi”, 2nd part “Resurrexit sicut dixit” with four voices; one of the four great Marian antiphons; Cantus firmus in tenor
“Salve mater salvatoris”, 2nd part “O deorum dominatrix” with four voices, rhyming prayer in festo Assumptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis; without cantus firmus
“Salve regina” [I], 2nd part “Et Jesum benedictum” with four ex 1 voices; one of the four great Marian antiphons in text and melody
“Salve regina” [II], 2nd part “Eia ergo” with three voices, 3rd part “Et Jesum benedictum” with four voices; like [I]
“Salve regina” [III] to four votes; like [II]
“Salve regina” [IV], 2nd part “Ad te suspiramus” with three voices, 3rd part “Et Jesum benedictum”, 4th part “O pia” with four voices; like [III]; Alternate composition, starting with “Vita dulcedo”; Soprano of the 1st part: Soprano from Guillaume Dufay's chanson “Par le regard”; Soprano of the 3rd part: Soprano from Gilles Binchois ' or from Dufay's chanson "Je ne vis oncques"
"Salve regina" [V], 2nd part: "Ad te suspiramus" with three voices, 3rd part: "Et Jesum benedictum", 4th part "O pia" with four voices; like [IV]; Alternatim composition; like [IV]
“Salve regina” [VI], 2nd part: “Et Jesum benedictum” with four voices; like [V]
“Santa Maria virgo”, 2nd part without text with three voices; Text mark in soprano and bass “Sancta Maria virgo”, in tenor “O Maria virgo mitis”; Text and melody not identified; the 2nd part apparently the template for the "Ecce video" by Nicolaes Craen , which was printed in Venice in May 1502
“Sic deus dilexit mundum” with five ex four voices; Protestant counterfactor of the chanson "Incessament"
“Si esurierit inimicus” to three votes; Protestant counterfactor of the "Benedictus" of the Missa "Cum jucunditate"
“Te decet laus” to five votes; Text not identified; without cantus firmus; only in 1 manuscript as a substitute motet “Loco deo gracias”; Authenticity stylistically somewhat improbable, but temporarily accepted as genuine based on the sources
“Vexilla Regis” / “Passio Domini” for four voices; Cantus firmus “Passio Domini” in the contratenor : Matthew 26.38 and 27.50 on the lesson formulas for the Chronista and Christ in the reading of the Passion story; "Vexilla regis": Vesper hymn on Passion Sunday (Dominica Passionis, Judica) in text and melody (1st stanza)

Motets of doubtful authenticity

Magnificat quarti toni to four voices; partly attributed to Josquin, partly to Alexander Agricola, partly to Antoine Brumel , most likely by Josquin
Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae; the more extensive surviving version is attributed to Stephan Mahu ; probably from this one
“Absalom fili mi” to four votes; Attributed to Josquin; attributed to de la Rue by three musicologists for stylistic reasons, questioned by a musicologist; but more from de la Rue than from Josquin
“Domini est terra” with four votes; previously attributed in Königsberg 1740 de la Rue; Source unreliable, stylistically improbable
“Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi” for four votes; de la Rue, Jacob Obrecht, “Jo. ala Venture “and attributed to Antoine de Longueval ; most likely from Longueval
“Si dormiero” to three voices; Attributed to de la Rue, Heinrich Isaac, Alexander Agricola, Heinrich Finck, and Josquin; stylistically more from Heinrich Isaac
“Virga tua” to two votes; Attributed to de la Rue and Matthaeus Pipelare; both peripheral sources; Authorship can hardly be decided in terms of style

Motet with meanwhile established other authorship

“Salva nos Domine” to four voices; Author: Heinrich Isaac with the Agnus Dei III of the Missa "Salva nos"

Anonymous motets, attributed by research to Pierre de la Rue

“Dulces exuviae” to four voices; anonymous
“Maria mater gratie” / “Fors seulement” with five voices; anonymous; Tenor of Johannes Ockeghem's Chanson as bass 2

Chansons with guaranteed authorship

“Autant en emporte le vent” with four votes
“A vous non autre” with three voices; Rondeau cinquain
“Carmen, Carmen in la” to four voices; Title for "Secretz regretz"
“Ce n'est pas jeu” to four voices; Rondeau quatrain
“Cent mille regretz” with five ex four voices; Attributed to Josquin in the posthumous Attaignant print (1549); certainly from de la Rue
“Dedans bouton” to four votes; maybe for a member of the Bouton family
“De l'oeil de le fille du roy” to four voices; Rondeau cinquain; probably for Margaret of Austria (after 1507?)
“D'ung aultre aymer” to five votes; on the tenor of Johannes Ockeghem's rondeau of the same name in tenor 2; only text incipits
“En espoir vis” to four ex two voices
“Fors seulement” [I] to four votes; on the soprano by Johannes Ockeghem's Rondeau in alto; text incipits only
"Fors seulement" [II] to five ex four votes; on the soprano by Johannes Ockeghem's Rondeau in soprano; text incipits only
Fraw Margaretsen sang to three voices; Title from "Pour ung jamais"
Güretzsch to three votes; Title of "Si dormiero"
“Il est bien heureux” to four votes; anonymous, but ascribed to de la Rue in Pietro Aaron's "Toscanello in musica" (1529)
“Il viendra le jour désiré” to four voices; maybe response to “Pourquoy tant”; Bass related to the bass of "Sancta Maria virgo"
“Incessament mon pauvre cueur lamente” to five ex four voices; Rondeau refrain; Attributed to Josquin in the posthumous Attaignant print (1549); certainly from de la Rue; Protestant counterfactor "Sic Deus dilexit mundum" in German handwriting
“Ma bouche rit” to four voices; text incipits only; on the tenor of Johannes Ockeghem's Chanson in tenor
“Mijn hert heeft [heeft altijd] demand” to four votes; in 1 manuscript attributed to Jacob Obrecht; certainly from de la Rue
“Plorer gemir crier” / “Requiem” with four voices; Motet chanson; Cantus firmus: introitus of the Missa pro defunctis; Lamentation on Johannes Ockeghem?
“Pour ce que je suis” to four voices; Rondeau refrain; in a manuscript “Puisque je suis” and in the index Loyset Compère , ascribed to de la Rue in the musical text; certainly from de la Rue
“Pourquoy non” to four votes
“Pourquoy tant me fault” / “Pour ung jamais” to four voices; Rondeau refrain; perhaps associated with “Il viendra” (this as a response ); Bass related to the bass of "Il viendra" and "Sancta Maria virgo"
“Pour ung jamais” to three votes; Text: Margaret of Austria; Title in a handwriting “Fraw Margaretsen lied” with four voices with “A si placet”; in another handwriting “Pour vous james”; Protestant counterfactor "Nos debemus gratias"
“Secretz regretz” to four voices; Title in one handwriting: "Carmen", in another handwriting: "Carmen in la"
“Tous les regretz” to four voices; Text by Octavien de Saint-Gelais on Margaret of Austria's departure from the French court in 1493; Rondeau, only chorus set to music; partly attributed to Josquin; certainly from de la Rue
“Tous nobles cueurs” for three voices; Text by Octavien de Saint-Gelais; only chorus set to music
“Trop plus secret” to four votes

Chansons and songs with dubious authenticity

"Oh help me, sorry" to four votes; Attributed to de la Rue and Josquin (here original attribution to Johannes Buchner deleted), also attributed to Noel Bauldeweyn ; only possible is Johannes Buchner
“Dictes moy bergère” to four ex two voices; partly de la Rue, partly attributed to Josquin
“Een vrolic wesen” to three votes; Attributed to de la Rue and Jacques Barbireau ; stylistically more from Barbireau
“En l'amour d'un dame” with five votes; Attributed to de la Rue in a manuscript, but stylistically improbable
“Il fault morir” to six votes; Attributed to de la Rue in a manuscript, stylistically improbable; Tenor on the tenor of the motet chanson "Tant ay d'ennuy" / "O vos omnes" by Loyset Compère
“Leal schray aunt” to four votes; Attributed to de la Rue in three manuscripts, one to Josquin and another with the title “Carmen”; stylistically atypical for both authors
“Le renvoye” to two votes; is the soprano of the Loyset Compère chanson with a new tenor; ascribed in a manuscript as Kontrafaktur de la Rue, anonymous in other sources; another late and peripheral source present; stylistically improbable
“Tant que nostre argent” with four voices; in one manuscript attributed to de la Rue, in others to Antoine Busnoys and Jean Japart; probably from Japart; is a combinatorial chanson "Amours fait moult" / "Il est de bonne heure né" / "Tant que nostre argent dure"

Chansons with a different authorship that has now been established

“Adieu Florens la jolie” to four votes; by Pietrequin Bonnel (fl. 1481–1499)
“Een vrolic wesen” to four votes; by Matthaeus Pipelare
“Fors seulement” [II] to four votes; by Matthaeus Pipelare: "Exortum est in tenebris"
“Jouissance vous donneray” to four voices; by Claudin de Sermisy

Anonymous chansons, attributed to research by Pierre de la Rue

“Adieu comment” to five ex four votes; anonymous
“Apres regretz” to four voices; anonymous
“Ce m'est tout ung” to four voices; anonymous
“C'est ma fortune” to four voices; anonymous
“Changier ne veulx” to four voices; anonymous
“Cueurs desolez” / “Dies illa” to five voices; anonymous; Motet chanson on the death of Jean de Luxembourg 1508; Text by Jean Lemaire ?
“Dueil et ennuy” to five ex four votes; anonymous
“Helas, fault il” to four votes; anonymous
“Il me fait mal” to three votes; anonymous; maybe response to “Me fauldra il”, text maybe by de la Rue
“J'ay mis mon cueur” to three voices; anonymous
“Je n'ay regretz” to five ex four votes; anonymous; Attribution to de la Rue by LF Bernstein 1991
“Je ne dis mot” to six ex three voices; anonymous
“Je ne scay plus” to three votes; anonymous
"Las, helas, las, seray-je repris?" To four votes; anonymous
“Me fauldra il” to four votes; anonymous; Text probably by Margarete von Österreich; maybe as a response “Il me fait mal”, text maybe by de la Rue
“Plusieurs regretz” to four votes; anonymous
“Quant il advient” to five ex four voices; anonymous
“Quant il survient” to four voices; anonymous
“Sailliés avant” to five ex four voices; anonymous; Attribution with strong reservation by LF Bernstein 1991; Attribution to Josquin by J. van Benthem; References to some recognized Josquin chansons in a manuscript of the Austrian National Library
“Se je souspire” / “Ecce iterum” with three voices; anonymous; Texts by Margaret of Austria on the death of Philip the Fair in 1506
“Soubz ce tumbel” to four voices; anonymous; Text “Epitaphe de l'Amant Vert” by Jean Lemaire, written in 1505 for Margaret of Austria; 1 author considers Josquin to be the possible author; Attribution to de la Rue by J. Milson 1993

Literature (selection)

G. Caullet: Musiciens de la collégiale Notre-Dame d'apres leurs testaments , Kortrijk 1911
A. Smijers: De Illustre Liewe Vrouwe Broederschap de 's-Hertogenbosch. In: Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis No. 11–14, 16–17 from 1925–1951
J. Schmidt-Görg: The Acta Capitularia of the Notre Dame Church in Kortrijk as a source of music history. In: Vlaams jaarboek voor muziekgeschiedenis No. 1, 1939, pages 21–80
J. Robijns: Pierre de la Rue, circa 1460–1518. A bio-bibliographical study , Gembloux 1954
The same: Pierre de la Rue as a transitional figure tussen middeleeuwen en renaissance. In: Revue Belge de musicologie No. 9, 1955, pages 122-130
M. Picker: Three Unidentified Chansons by Pierre de la Rue in the "Album de Marguerite d'Autriche". In: Musical Quarterly No. 46, 1960, pages 329-343
N. St. John Davison: The Motets of Pierre de la Rue. In: Musical Quarterly No. 48, 1962, pp. 19-35
Chr. Maas: Josquin - Agricola - Brumel - de la Rue: een authenticiteidsprobleem. In: Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis No. 20, 1964–1967, pages 120–139
M. Picker: The Chanson Albums of Marguerite of Austria , Berkeley 1965
M. Rosenberg: Symbolic and Descriptive Text Settings in the Sacred Works of Pierre de la Rue (c. 1460-1518). In: Miscellanea musicologica (Adelaide) No. 1, 1966, pages 225-248
H. Kellman: Josquin and the Courts of Netherlands an France: the Evidence of the Sources. In: Josquin Congress Report New York 1971, London / New York / Toronto 1976, pp. 181–216
WH Rubsamen: Unifying Techniques in Selected Masses of Josquin and La Rue: a Stylistic Comparison. In: Josquin Congress Report New York 1971, London / New York / Toronto 1976, pp. 369–400
MJ Bloxam: A Survey of Late Medieval from the Low Countries: Implications for Sacred Polyphony 1460–1520 , doctoral thesis at Yale University, New Haven 1987 (typewritten)
W. Elders: Number Symbolism in Some Cantus-Firmus-Masses of Pierre de la Rue. In: Jaarboek van het Vlaamse Centrum voor Oude Muziek No. 3, 1987, pages 59-68
Th. C. Karp: Mensural Irregularities in La Rue's Missa de Sancto Antonio. In: Israel Sudies in Musicology No. 5, 1990, pp. 81-95
J. van Benthem: Pietro de Platea versus Petrus de Vico: a Problem in the Biography of Pierre de la Rue , Introduction to Workshop III: Josquin and La Rue, in: Josquin-Kongressbericht Utrecht 1986, Utrecht 1991, page 101 and following
Ms. de Haen: A Magnificat quarti toni with a Fourfold Ascription. In: Josquin Congress Report Utrecht 1986, Utrecht 1991, pp. 117–123
LF Bernstein: Chansons Attributed to both Josquin des Prez and Pierre de la Rue: a Problem in Establishing Authenticity. In: Josquin Congress Report Utrecht 1986, Utrecht 1991
Honey Meconi: Free from the Crime of Venus: the Biography of Pierre de la Rue. In: Congress report of the International Society for Musicology Madrid 1992, Revista de musicología No. 16, 1993, pages 2673–2683
A. Leszczyńska: Melodyka niderlandska w poifonii Josquina, Obrechta i La Rue , Warsaw 1997 (= Studia et dissertationes Instituti musicologiae Universitatis Varsoviensis B / 6)
Honey Meconi: French Print Chansons and Pierre de la Rue: a Case Study in Authenticity. In: Festschrift for L. Lockwood, edited by JA Owens / A. Cummings, Warren / Michigan 1997, pages 187-214
E. Schreurs: De schatkamer van Alamire en ekele nieuwe vondsten van muziekfragmenten. In: Musica antiqua (Belgium) No. 16, 1999, pages 36-39
M. Zywietz: Charles V - the emperor and music. New ways of relating text and music in the motets of his conductor Nicolas Gombert , habilitation thesis Münster 1999
WG Kempster: Chromatic Alteration in the Missa "L'homme armé" of Pierre de la Rue: a Case Study in Performance Practice , dissertation at the University of Alberta, Edmonton 1999
F. Fitch: Introduction , on Choirbook for Philip the Fair and Juana of Castile: approx. 1504–1506, Brussels, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, manuscript 9126, facsimile, Peer 2000
Honey Meconi: Habsburg-Burgundian Manuscripts, Borrowed Material, and the Practice of Naming. In: Early Musical Borrowing, edited by Honey Meconi, New York / London 2004, pages 111-124
AH Weaver: Aspects of Musical Borrowing in the Polyphonic Missa de feria of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. In: Early Musical Borrowing, edited by H. Meconi, New York / London 2004, pp. 125–148
Honey Meconi: Pierre de la Rue and Musical Life at the Habsburg-Burgundian Court , Oxford University Press, New York March 27, 2003, reprint 2009, ISBN 0198165544

Web links

Works by and about Pierre de la Rue in the catalog of the German National Library

Sheet music and audio files by Pierre de la Rue in the International Music Score Library Project

Sheet music in the public domain by Pierre de la Rue in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

swell

↑ Rue, Pierre de la. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 14 (Riccati - Schönstein). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1134-9 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
↑ Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 5: Köth - Mystical Chord. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18055-3 .

personal data
SURNAME	Rue, Pierre de la
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Rue, Perchon de la; Rue, Petrus de la; Vico, Petrus de; Robore, Petrus de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Franco-Flemish composer, singer and cleric of the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH	between 1460 and 1470
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tournai
DATE OF DEATH	November 20, 1518
Place of death	Kortrijk

[1] Rue, Pierre de la. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 14 (Riccati - Schönstein). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1134-9 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)

[2] Marc Honegger, Günther Massenkeil (ed.): The great lexicon of music. Volume 5: Köth - Mystical Chord. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1981, ISBN 3-451-18055-3 .